


Won’t You Teach Me How To Love And Learn

by Prismatic_Heretic



Category: Bastille (Band)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:26:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23380162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prismatic_Heretic/pseuds/Prismatic_Heretic
Summary: Kyle wants to open up to Dan about how he truly feels and he’s briefly surprised about how he reacts! Or the fic where Kyle takes Dan to the beach and things happen. Based on the prompt “I’m sorry, I know it hurts”. Shout out to @AtrophicGalaxy for helping read this over and listening to me ramble. Go read her fics if you haven’t yet because you’re missing out!
Relationships: Kyle Simmons/Dan Smith
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Won’t You Teach Me How To Love And Learn

Kyle definitely wasn’t a hopeless romantic (really he wasn’t) it’s just that he figured whenever he asked Dan to go steady with him he wanted the moment to be memorable.  
He’d received a wolfish smile and an emphatic “hell yes!” Whenever he’d asked Dan if he wanted to go for a walk on the beach with him before they left for the next city on their list to tour. They were currently in Florida and had just played a show in Panama City and they were all still buzzing with post show adrenaline. After they played the last song and thanked the crowd they’d walked off stage and Dan grabbed Kyle’s hand and pulled him in close, clapping him on the back and saying something about how he’d done such a great job.

Dan did this after every show but he never seemed to be anything but genuinely excited and honest. It was in that moment while Dan’s sweaty hair stuck up all around his head with his eyes shining so bright and his breath hot in his ear that Kyle knew he couldn’t hold back any longer.  
He had to ask him to be his on a whim. Of course they were already best mates and Kyle would take that any given day over not knowing Dan at all but if he was being honest with himself he didn’t want to hold back any longer. He wanted to be able to do more than peck Dan’s cheek and high five him whenever he got excited. They’d destroyed the concept of personal space not long after they met each other and touching had always been comforting for either of them which was enjoyable. Kyle simply needed to be able to express how much he loved Dan and how.  
Love was such a strange concept to him and he’d spent the last several months after they formed the band trying to wrap his head around it. The only person that he could pinpoint that had ever made his heart hammer in his chest and his mouth go dry whenever he’d copy his actions was Dan.  
How could you explain to someone that you’d move heaven and earth for their happiness without sounding like an idiot? How could you tell them that you’d take up all the space in the world or none at all for their comfort? Shake the entire fucking core to get them to smile...  
“Are you alright?” Dan shouted with his voice slightly cracking. His question ripped Kyle from his thoughts, he hadn’t realized he’d zoned out.  
“Yeah, yeah, just thinking,” Kyle chuckled while he reflexively reached out to brush Dan’s hair out of his face. Dan smiled brightly at him and oh god Kyle could feel his stomach flip.  
“How about we do some more of that later and go see the ocean, yeah?” Kyle quipped. Dan grinned and emphatically cried “hell yeah!” That’s all it took for them to head off in step with each other towards the tour bus.  
Dan happily rambled away while Kyle fiddled with the ring on his thumb as his mind whirled. Was he or could he go through with this? He wanted to but found himself growing more and more nervous as the minutes ticked by. They changed out of their sweaty clothes and decided that the ocean could serve as a shower. Kyle tried to keep his gaze anywhere else as Dan peeled his pants off of his legs. He caught a glimpse of those muscular thighs before seeing Dan fiddle with the hem of his “Jurassic Park” tshirt.  
Dan had always been self conscious about removing his clothes, Kyle knew. So it was a relief to see Dan tug his shirt off without so much as a glance in his direction. A small smile tugged at the corners of Kyle’s lips before he busied himself with changing out of his own clothes. He loved Dan so much and seeing him be so comfortable with himself and in Kyle’s presence made his heart swell and his head spin. He was ridiculously gone.  
They both looked up as they heard chatter towards the front of the bus and shouted hellos as Woody and Will appeared with drinks in hand and smiles plastered on their face.  
“Where are you two off to?” Will asked with gentle curiosity. Woody flipped his sweaty hair away from his face and nodded at them with a toothy grin.  
“To the beach!” Dan announced joyfully.  
“Kyle must have got a wild hair or something because he wants to go for a walk on it.”  
Panic struck Kyle when he realized that there could be an issue if they wanted to tag along and also he feared sharks with every ounce of his being. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his mates more than life itself but he didn’t necessarily want them to be there for a situation that could possibly alter it (hopefully for the better) even a little bit.  
“Awe, did baby want you to go with him so he wouldn’t have to go out alone” Will teased as he locked eyes with Kyle.  
“Ha!” Kyle shot back wittily and planted a light punch to Will’s chest  
“Sounds romantic,” Woody said blinking his eyes to appear like he was batting his eyelashes.  
“Fuck off!” Kyle laughed as he tried to will the blood rushing to his face to go away.  
Thankfully before anyone could notice the pink hue Dan stepped in between all of them and threw his arms out.  
“Great show lads! I’m proud of all of us. How about a round before we leave?”  
“Don’t mind if I do,” Kyle said a little too quickly as he reached for the cup of liquor in Woody’s hand. He snatched it out quickly and turned his back to him leaving Woody to swat at him playfully.  
“That was MIIINE!” Woody groaned.  
Will rolled his eyes and went about to fixing them all a shot in the small kitchenette. After a very loud cheers, a group hug, and two shots of Jameson burning in their chests Dan and Kyle headed out.  
Kyle had requested an Uber and they said their goodbyes as his phone alerted him that the driver was there.  
They each greeted the short man with spectacles and thinning grey hair warmly. Kyle slid in the back of the car first and Dan followed him hastily, sliding in right beside him to press their sides and legs together. Kyle buzzed from his touch and energy as it poured from Dan and warmed the air between him.  
It wasn’t until Dan started chatting with the driver that Kyle noticed how quiet everything was. It was so much quieter than the cheering and screaming of the crowd, of Dan’s vocals and Woody’s drums. The silence was almost a hair too much but he learned to relax into it as he did into Dan.  
It was moments like this that spurred him on to ask Dan to be more than just mates with him. There they were in the back of the car with no elbow room in between them because they needed (wanted?) each other’s touch so badly. Dan had slung an arm behind Kyle’s head and his hand rested just above Kyle’s shoulder. He could feel Dan’s fingertips burn through the thin cotton of his tshirt and he felt his mouth dry out instantly. He felt his hand slipping to rest on Dan’s kneecap and neither of them questioned the actions at all. It felt totally normal and between them it was.  
Dan had changed into his glasses on the bus and the sunset reflected in his lenses. Kyle felt himself getting sucked in by the contrast of the blue of his irises and only looked away when Dan’s eyes slid over to him. He bit the inside of his cheek and was grateful whenever the car started to slow and pull up to the curb before them. He’d gotten caught looking at Dan a few times but never questioned. Dan always let him off of things gently, and that was no surprise because that was how he did most things.  
Most things Kyle tried to keep the thoughts threatening to intrude at bay.  
They wished the driver a good night and tipped him before they got out of the car. They could smell the ocean before they could see it and Kyle enjoyed the hint of salt in the air. He’d always detested the ocean for the sheer reason of sharks living there but loved the feeling of sand in between his toes. The only reason he’d asked Dan here in the first place was because he wanted to show him how memorable he wanted this to be as well as prove to himself that love could outweigh fear. Besides, it’s not like he was actually going to go in it.  
“COME ON NOW!” Dan shouted at him before sprinting forward and kicking up sand. Kyle let out a woop and followed closely behind. They ran and let out nonsensical laughs until their legs burned. They were approaching the shore line and Kyle glanced around nervously while he put his hands on his knees and leaned forward panting slightly.  
Dan took off his shoes and couldn’t help himself from spinning around with his arms outspread.  
“What’s gotten into you?” Dan asked as he stepped towards the water.  
Kyle raised his eyebrows and feigned ignorance.  
“What?” He stated blankly.  
“I thought you didn’t like the ocean is all,” Dan chided softly. “It’s not a bad thing, this is just kind of unlike you that’s all,” he finished and reached up to tap his elbow to reassure him that he wasn’t making fun of him.  
“Well, I wanted to do a very unlike Kyle thing,” Kyle laughed and ran his hand through his hair.  
“Aren’t you full of surprises tonight?” Dan smiled and edged closer until the top of his feet were submerged whenever the tide rolled in.  
“Maybe?” Kyle stepped closer but froze a few feet in front of Dan because there was no way he was going to actually get close enough to get wet.  
“Dan, what I want to say may sound, it may sound, sound,” he stuttered before collecting a breath. “It may sound different and I never want it to change anything in between us but I just want to throw it out there!” He made a motion with his hands like he was casting a fishing line into the water.  
Dan stepped one pace backward and tilted his head to the side.  
“Yes?”  
Kyle felt like the breath was leaving his body as he took in Dan’s windswept hair and damp lashes. He could do this he thought to himself. This is the man that could get him to join a band, go to the ocean on a whim, a man he could change the world with and oh he was so ready to do just that. He twiddled with the ring on his thumb before trying again.  
“I really like you as more than mates you know?” He cast his gaze towards the setting sun but chanced a glance at Dan.  
“Dan, I think I’m in love with you.”  
To Kyle’s sheer horror the blood drained out of Dan’s face and his eyes widened a bit. He looked absolutely terrified.  
He didn’t know how he would react but he didn’t imagine it being like this.  
“Dan, I’m sorry I can take it back. Well I mean I can say I’m taking it back but I don’t mean I am!” He watched as Dan took a step forward and shook his head.  
“FUCKIN CHRIST,” Dan yelped.  
His left knee jerked and he began falling face first into Kyle who reached out towards him.  
“What is it?” He asked as Dan hopped around on his right foot kicking up grains of sand. His left hand threw the shoes into the waves behind him and they landed with a loud thunk.  
“I think I’ve been bitten,” Dan gasped.  
Bitten? Kyle wondered to himself with the thoughts in his head becoming a flurry around him.  
Dan nodded and Kyle drew him into his chest with one arm while propping him upright with the other. In a split second he decided that sitting on the ground was the safer option because his knees made that choice for him. They sunk to the ground and Kyle felt Dan shudder against him. He rubbed his hands down his arms and Dan extended his left leg straight out in front of him.  
They both peered over and discovered that the pale skin on Dan’s left foot was starting to blossom a nasty shade of red. There was what appeared to be a small pinprick in the center of the top of his foot.  
“I think I just got stung by a jellyfish,” Dan wheezed, his voice was much too high pitched.  
“Oh fuck,” Kyle bit out. His hands acted of their own accord and began hovering over Dan’s skin. He wasn’t sure where to touch and where not to and he tried to swallow against the feeling of dread that crashed through his whole body. Dan let out a shrill laugh and said “this was a very bad time for this to happen all around.”  
“What?” Kyle answered dumbly.  
Dan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and turned slightly to face Kyle.  
“I’m,” he started, glancing away and then finally building up the courage to look him directly in the eye.  
“I’m in love with you too! And now I really don’t know what to do about any of this.”  
Kyle didn’t know if the laughter bubbling out of him was caused by relief or fear but he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. Dan shook his head slightly as he joined in on Kyle’s laughter.  
What an absolute mess, Kyle thought to himself as he leant back over Dan to peer at his foot.  
Dan quit laughing abruptly and sucked in a sharp breath. Kyle winced at the action and tsked softly.  
“I’m sorry. I know it hurts.”  
“It really does!” Dan cried out and wriggled his toes.  
“But I’ve gotta say you’re doing a great job of distracting me from the pain!”  
Kyle felt his heartbeat slow a tad and it no longer felt like it was going to beat out of his chest and fling itself into the ocean.  
“Why did you never tell me that you were in love with me?!” Dan asked with his voice slightly cracking. His question ripped Kyle from his thoughts.  
“I did,” Kyle bit out. “I told you in every single way that I knew how! In all the ways I could without being overwhelming or too much..”  
“Too much?” Dan interrupted him with a sharp laugh. He softened his tone as he watched Kyle’s face fall.  
“You could never be too much for me, never. I want you in any way you’ll have me. As mates, as lovers, as boyfriends. Why don’t you just try to overwhelm me?? Give me all of you that you think I could take.”  
“All of me?” kyle asked leaning over until their shoulders touched. He leant forward until Dan and his foreheads were pressed together.  
“Yeah, I can handle you,” Dan breathed.  
“Prove it.”  
Kyle moaned as their lips met. He always imagined that Dan would be a gentle kisser and he proved his thoughts right. This is incredible Kyle thought. He was going to drown in his warmth. It wasn’t until Dan winced that Kyle pulled away and he stroked a hand through his unkempt hair.  
“There’s more where that came from,” Kyle said gently.  
“But first we need to get you patched up.”  
Dan nodded in agreement.  
“Just know that it’s not actually recommended to piss on a jellyfish sting,” Dan said with a sharp laugh.  
Kyle’s eyebrows instantly shot up and he looked absolutely bewildered. As soon as his face took that shape it had vanished and was replaced by small laugh lines around his mouth as he smiled.  
“Alright well, I don’t think we should discredit it completely.”


End file.
